Search research articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

Repeated checking causes memory distrust.

Marcel van den Hout¹, Merel Kindt

¹Department of Medical, Clinical and Experimental Psychology, University of Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, Netherlands. ma.vandenhout@dep.unimaas.nl

Behaviour Research and Therapy

|February 26, 2003

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Brain Aging in Specific Phobia: An ENIGMA-Anxiety Mega-Analysis.

Human brain mapping·2026

Same author

Reliving emotional memories: Episodic memory retrieval elicits affective psychophysiological responses.

Neurobiology of learning and memory·2026

Same author

Past stories, future worries: sleep does not alter the emotional response to future-relevant or irrelevant negative memories.

Behaviour research and therapy·2026

Same author

Neural correlates of human fear conditioning and sources of variability in 2199 individuals.

Nature communications·2025

Same author

The Act of Measurement: The Influence of Behavioural Tests on Spider Fear and Disgust.

Journal of psychopathology and behavioral assessment·2025

Same author

Nighttime is the right time: the time interval to overnight sleep following an embarrassing experience does not influence long-term emotional responses to its reactivated episode.

Sleep advances : a journal of the Sleep Research Society·2025

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Repetitive checking in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) paradoxically increases memory distrust. This occurs because checking reduces memory vividness and detail, undermining confidence despite accurate recall.

Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Neuroscience

Background:

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by persistent distrust in memory, even with extensive checking behaviors.
Existing theories struggle to explain the persistence of memory distrust despite repeated reassurance through checking.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of repetitive checking on memory accuracy, vividness, detail, and confidence in healthy individuals.
To test the hypothesis that checking increases familiarity, leading to reduced perceptual processing and subsequent memory distrust.

Main Methods:

Three experiments using interactive computer animations with virtual gas stoves and light bulbs.
Participants performed 'relevant checking' (on the gas stove) or 'irrelevant checking' (on light bulbs) as controls.

Related Experiment Videos

Memory accuracy, vividness, detail, and confidence were assessed before and after checking tasks.

Main Results:

Relevant checking significantly reduced the vividness and detail of recollections without affecting actual memory accuracy.
Relevant checking led to a significant reduction in confidence in memory, while irrelevant checking did not.
Findings were consistent across experiments, including one without a pre-test to control for assessment effects.

Conclusions:

Repetitive checking, while intended to reduce uncertainty, paradoxically fosters doubt and increases meta-memory problems.
Checking behaviors in OCD may be counterproductive safety strategies that exacerbate memory distrust.
The study provides a theoretical explanation for why memory distrust persists in individuals with OCD.